watching buyers of expensive replacement tires go into shock

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I have been in costco several times now when the owner of a (insert expensive car name here) like a high series BMW or Lexus asks about "what do new tires cost"? and gets told the price by the tire tech, the buyers sometimes says "gee that high but not unbearable", and the tire tech says well thats per tire not a set of 4.
 
Posers trying to be affluent and driving a car they can't afford is very funny.

Especially 18 or 20 inch tires when they previously bought 14 or 15 inch tires.
 
Tires are one of those things that only a tiny fraction of car buyers even think about, until the spec on their car comes to bite them in the [censored]. All these big, fat wheels with oddball sizes on new cars is making it normal to spend thousands replacing tires.

One thing I notice a lot of down here is people putting small car tire sizes on old beater trucks and SUVs because they are too cheap. Please keep your Explorer or Blazer on 195/60R15s away from me!
 
We have bi-annual safety and emissions here or i would probably go longer on a set of tires, [censored] money grubbers.
 
Tires aren't cheap, if anything they've gotten more expensive over the years. My 01 impala had 16's and for four tires was 400-500 bucks initially, last set of four in 09 were $600 and change for the same brand! Xterra and Venza were both over $1k!
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Just plain stupid too because with the interwebz it takes seconds to find this kind of info out BEFORE you buy a car!


Most do not care anyways..until it is smacking them in the face....
 
Not the lux brand folks I feel sorry for... you buy ( or lease...) a $50k + car , you should expect tires to be at the upper range of pricing.

It's the Dodge Journey owner with 19's, or the Toyota Venza owner with 20 inch wheels that I feel sorry for... seriously, does a Toyota station wagon need 20 inch wheels...?

And, yes you can research stuff like this before you buy the vehicle, but 98% of people don't...
 
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Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Tires are one of those things that only a tiny fraction of car buyers even think about, until the spec on their car comes to bite them in the [censored]. All these big, fat wheels with oddball sizes on new cars is making it normal to spend thousands replacing tires.

One thing I notice a lot of down here is people putting small car tire sizes on old beater trucks and SUVs because they are too cheap. Please keep your Explorer or Blazer on 195/60R15s away from me!

Mazda 6 has 19" wheel&tire option. A sedan like BMW M3 is okay, why 19" on a family sedan ?
 
Only the truly wealthy can buy tires at $30,000 a set without sweating it.

Here is quote from the article in the link below:

"Let's just take the tires, for example: in the U.S., the Michelin Pilot Sport 2s fashioned with the Veyron's unique compound cost about $30,000; in the UK they're £23,500 ($38,216 U.S.). Bugatti recommends you change them every 4,000 kilometers, or 2,500 miles, and at every ten thousand miles the company recommends changing the wheels and tires, which runs north of $50,000."

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/17/bugatti-veyron-running-costs-so-spendy-cheaper-to-use-a-private/


Back on topic, I have seen plenty of luxury brand cars with Wanli's, Westlake, Goodride, Triangle...and some other really off the wall brands. I always laugh when I see this. POSERS!!!
 
Or buyers of $18-22k cars finding out that those flashy 17's or 18's are going to be $$$ come tire time. Sometimes the OEM tire is the cheapest way to go.
 
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Originally Posted By: spasm3

It's the Dodge Journey owner with 19's, or the Toyota Venza owner with 20 inch wheels that I feel sorry for... seriously, does a Toyota station wagon need 20 inch wheels...?

Quote:


I'm kind of ticked that my truck has 17's, silly. 15's work fine.


Indeed the primary reason why the manufacturers put these stupid huge wheels on the car is because it makes it "look" better...LOL

I despise large wheels, firstly because of the expense of tires and a replacement wheel if it is damaged, but also because you add unsprung weight, and the super low profiles can make the ride very uncomfortable, and the wheel vulnerable to pot hole damage.
 
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All of the vehicles I've owned:
Volvo 740 - 15"
Toyota Corolla - 15"
Dodge Dakota - 15"
Toyota Tacoma - 16"
Chevy K30 CUCV - 16"
Subaru Forester - 16"

I want a 2015 Forester XT, but it only comes with 18" wheels, and along with the lack of a manual transmission and turbo combo, that's a big disappointment for me. 18" wheels and low profile tires would make me nervous up here; the secondary roads are all in very poor condition.
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell

but also because you add unsprung weight, and the super low profiles can make the ride very uncomfortable, and the wheel vulnerable to pot hole damage.


I agree completely!
 
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